New Zealand’s government awarded “damehood” - the second-highest honor in the country - to its former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The award was given for “leading the country through the Covid pandemic.” Who gave Jacinda this highest honor? Her new Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins. Mr. Hipkins was Jacinda’s Health Minister during the pandemic, so by giving her the highest honor for handling the pandemic, he also implicitly “honored” himself. Jacinda did some very unusual things during the pandemic. Her government forbade New Zealand citizens from returning to their own country. She also supported a “two-tier society,” basically robbing unvaccinated New Zealanders of their constitutional rights and laughing about it: How is New Zealand doing? Take a look at the Short-Term Mortality database. In 2023, New Zealanders are dying at excess rates of around 25% of normal. A successful pandemic policy would not result in roughly 25% excess mortality in the fourth year of the pandemic. The officials insist that Covid is not responsible for most of these deaths, leaving the actual cause an unspoken mystery. Most New Zealanders are unaware that their chances of dying increased by a quarter because their country’s press is silent on excess deaths. The silence and lack of public awareness are not accidental: the government is intensifying its crackdown on social networks and the media. “Safer Online Services” Details New Censorship PlanThis June, the NZ government revealed its initiative for “Safer Online Services and Media Platforms.” The government is proposing to create “A new industry regulator” armed with powers to punish “media platforms”:
While the proposal gives lip service to “protecting children,” it quickly advances to “hate speech,” the right of the government to remove and block content, and more:
NZ plans to use Artificial Intelligence to do censorship:
Anyway, I am not a citizen of New Zealand, so I cannot tell that country how to govern itself. What I can say, however, is that I am very sorry for the fine citizens of that remote land, who lost their constitutional protections, are dying at excessive rates, are largely unaware of the danger they are in, and have a government more interested in hiding the truth from the population and awarding highest honors to its members. Does Jacinda deserve her “damehood”? Or does she deserve something else? |